The Japanese government’s hesitation over the banning of meat and bone meal (MBM) cattle feed has been labelled a “grave policy mistake” by a joint study panel set up by the agriculture and health ministries.
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Draft findings by the panel declared that the MBM, an animal-based feed suspected to be at the root of the outbreak of BSE in Japan, should have been banned earlier. The draft says that the farm ministry made a mistake in 1990 when it simply made sterilising criteria stricter to control the use of MBM.
The study panel is due to hold another round of talks on the issues early next week. It will present a final report to Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe and Health, Labour and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi on 2 April.
